Sometimes...

Sometime, stuff just doesn't work out quite how it was planned. That's actually pretty much the story of me. For example, this morning.

We were going to try and do a dry run of a morning ride, doing it as close as possible to what we would encounter once campers arrive. We picked up the Summer Staff at 4:30 AM to feed, catch, and saddle all the horses. That actually went pretty well, but as soon as people showed up to ride, everything went south pretty quickly. Not having enough riders, but still wanting to take all the horses to simulate a full ride of campers, we decided to pony, or tie them to us and drag, our extra horses. After about 30 feet on the trail, I could tell it would be rough, but we pressed on anyways.

I don't really want to type it all, but suffice it to say that in three years of leading trail rides, this was hands down the worst ride I have ever been a part of. I got pulled off my horse two different times, one wrangler got clotheslined off and possibly bruised her ribs, another wrangler's saddle began to fall off and he bailed out into a tree, resulting in a broken saddle. Almost everything that could have gone wrong did.

But, as bad as it was, there was some good that came out of it. We learned who some our rock solid horses were, we learned what not to do, and having the worst ride ever now will make me appreciate every ride that goes somewhat well.

It's kinda funny, in a way. God over and over shows me things this way. I tend to be very stubborn and ignore the signs when I don't like the lesson being presented to me. Instead of taking the easy way and learning things without shooting myself in the foot, I tend to take the hardest route possible. I feel like God tries to guide me, but then I ignore it, so He sends whatever I have built up around me crashing into a fiery mess. After my best laid plans fall at my feet, God shows me how far off what I had planned was from what He has for me and how much better His plan is than mine. I'm slowly learning to listen to that quiet voice and nudge I feel and hear if I let myself.


lane

Sick Horse

I have spent the past few hours down at the barn with one of my horses, Palabra.

He was running a high fever, extremely rapid heartbeat(up to 80 bpm at one point), and was extremely dehydrated. After some time in the sick pen, his heartbeat came down and he drank some water, both good things. His fever is still pretty high, just a touch over 102 at last check. We shot him some penicillin and left him food and water, so hopefully morning will bring better news. Now I'm off to bed, gotta feed and check him early tomorrow morning.

Night all.


lane

Finally here!!

Finally! After four (I think) days of traveling out West, I got to Crooked Creek Ranch. It was a great drive, the only part that sucked was the last 100 or so miles of Kansas. Straight, flat, and boring.

Thank you so much to everybody who was praying for me, I got out without a single mishap or incident, which is a big deal for me. Also, please be praying for a few friends of mine going through some family losses. I love y'all and am praying for you.

More later.


lane

Kansas City!

Just got into Kansas City a few hours. Not a bad place from what I've seen. Pretty cool, the Cabelas in Kansas City is right across the street from the hotel, I went and killed a little time there earlier. I found a pretty sweet Marlin lever action there, I may try and pick it up on the way back if it's still there.

The drive wasn't that bad. I drove about 15 hours yesterday and got to the lake house where I was meeting my friend Harrison and his girlfriend's family. Real fun, we got to go out on the lake for several hours today. I jumped off a cliff and got some solid sunburn. Take the good with the bad, I guess. Today's drive was just a shade under three hours, so nothing compared to what I already did.

Still planning on hiking Pike's Peak the day after tomorrow, then on to Crooked Creek!!

Well, shower time now. It's been a few days. Holla!


lane

Road Trippin

I think I finally have my route planned out. For those who don't know, I'm working this summer at a Young Life camp in Colorado as a horse intern. Meaning somebody both thought that I would be competent leading people and being in charge of 45 horses, and that I would be able to keep from hurting myself and others with minimal supervision for an entire summer.

I'm leaving first thing Tuesday morning and driving to stay with a friend that lives just outside Kansas City. I'm gonna hang out with him for a bit, then meet up with my buddy Zach on Wednesday the 13th. Staying again in KC that night, then we are convoying to Colorado! Gonna camp the night of the 14th, hopefully at or near Pike's Peak. We decided to hike the Peak on the 15th, 14,110 feet high. Most likely taking the Barr Trail, 13 miles with 7400 feet of elevation change, the greatest of any of the 54 fourteeners in Colorado (via Wikipedia). Hopefully roll back down that, then camp again that night. Finally, arise to a brilliant day on the 16th, where Zach and I part ways and I drive the 3 or so hours left to get to Crooked Creek! Wooo!

Also, a few people have promised letters, and it would make me happy to have that happen. So here is my end of the bargain, my address. Just put my name at the top, and send whatever love you want to on to me!
P.O. Box 250
3000 County Rd 517
Fraser, CO 80442-0250


lane

Guess what it is?

It's Mother's Day! Go hug your Mom, bring her a glass of sweet tea, something like that. She does sstuff the entire year for you, so I guess one day is a fair trade for all of the rest of us non-moms.

Anyway, I went out last night with a few friends in the Boro. We went to see my friend Mandie sing with her dad's band, a Beatles tribute group. It was real fun, they played for way longer than I expected. They were on from like 10ish until after 2 sometime. Afterwards, everybody got to experience a Greensboro institution, Herbie's. Picture your regular diner, with dope greasy food, open 24 hours, now add a few halves of old VW bugs tacked on the walls and Voila! Herbie's Diner.

All in all, a very fun night. A bit of a long one, followed up by not enough sleep and church in the morning(which was a good service, glad I went) so now I'm a wee bit tired. Maybe a nap afternoon? Who knows?


lane

Forward

You make all things new

You make all things good

I will follow You forward